Overview & Reviews

Acura is an upscale automaker known for offering cars with impressive levels of luxury, features and performance. It's come a long way in a short time, however, as the history of Acura is relatively brief. Parent company Honda introduced the Acura brand to the U.S. market in 1986 in an effort to create a separate luxury division for its products. At first, it was just a two-car show: the Legend sedan, which was the first true Japanese luxury car sold in America, and the Integra sport coupe and sedan.

Though essentially a marketing creation for the North American market, the Acura brand was immediately successful. Consumers liked the features, performance and upscale image of Acura cars, along with the fact that Acuras were backed by Honda's reputation for reliability and low ownership costs. In 1991, Acura introduced its crown jewel: the all-aluminum NSX sports car, which offered performance close to that of other exotic cars while undercutting them in price.

As Acura's product line grew in the 1990s, however, the company struggled a bit. Some of its products were duds, and it risked alienating loyal customers when it replaced the Legend and Integra names with alphanumeric designations. The company jumped on the hot luxury SUV bandwagon in the mid-'90s with the SLX. Unfortunately, the SLX was just a rebadged version of an Isuzu SUV, and its quality did not match customers' expectations.

For the new millennium, Acura revamped its product range. An all-new SUV called the MDX debuted, sporting numerous family-friendly features, including a third-row seat. The Integra was replaced with the RSX sport coupe, and an all-new entry-level sport sedan called the TSX was introduced after that. A complete redesign of its most popular model, the midsize TL sedan, followed, as did a redesign of its flagship RL luxury sedan.

By mid-decade the NSX was gone, but Acura filled out its model lineup with the street-performance-oriented RDX compact crossover, the TSX wagon and the ZDX, a fastback-styled crossover that placed unique styling over practicality. Today Acura is still trying to find its ideal niche but there's no denying the quality of Acura's vehicles, nor their appealing mix of performance, technology and value.

User Reviews:

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  Overall, great car but it does have some problems - 2014 Acura RLX
  By SS - November 2 - 8:50 pm

  Im very happy with the performance, handling, ergonomics and fuel efficiency. The only major complaint I have is with the battery going dead when the car sits for more than 2 days. I suspect its a parasitic draw, possibly from the HFL module. Taking it back to the dealer and plan to leave it with them until they fix it. Apparently this is a problem with Acuras and I will not recommend buying this model, or any of the other ones, until they address it.

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  Love this car from the outside - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Ann - October 22 - 9:53 am

  Once you get in, and drive - particularly at NIGHT is when you really cant stand it. The lights are so very dim - we live in an area with no street lights. Test drive was on a highway - and didnt notice how DARK the car is. When you come to an intersection and need to turn - you see an absolute BLACK HOLE on the sides of the car - no visibility whatsoever. Cant see a deer, dog, bear, bicycle rider, pedestrian - zip nada nothing! You have to use the high beams the entire ride - and my 2006 Acura had great lights. Loved the look of these LED from the outside, but the brightness is very short distance ahead. Makes you very unsure around the next bend. I have to look into some type of fog lights being added, because my husband and I recognize we could well be killed driving this vehicle at night. The transmission is quirky - especially around 40-45 MPH, does this zooming up thing while you are coasting. Should you take your foot off the gas to approach either a hill or railroad tracks - the car comes to life and speeds itself up! Craziest thing. Absolutely HATE electronics all on the screen. Simple function like adjusting fan speed cant be accomplished because of the glare on the screen. Just give me a dial! Why does the car rock repeatedly every time I brake - no matter how gently? I feel that someone went way too far with the electronics, and over engineered what ought to be simple tasks. Headlights are DANGEROUS and I foresee a recall in the near future - as was the case with the shiny ac vents reflecting off the mirror - which were replaced with black matte ones. BTW - Still havent found the odometer??? 6 Weeks of ownership.

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  Good value but transmission annoying! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Bob Ford - October 20 - 9:52 pm

  Leased the car about a year ago. Like the gas mileage but it has some annoying traits like the transmission. I should preface my comments by stating that I my previous car was a 2012 Audi S4 with manual transmission. This car was real fun to drive with the stick as I was able to stay in gear for max performance... My motivation for going with TLX was to get something more practical for work as I drive approx. 20K per year calling on clients and a manual tranny can be difficult if you run into stop and go highway traffic. Also wanted to keep my costs down so the TLX fit the bill for that reason as well. Anyway, the TLX even in sports mode tacks too high at lower gears and is sluggish in higher gears. I dont bother with the paddle shifters because I cant be bothered. Not the same as clutch and shifting. The other thing I find annoying is not being able to permanently disable the auto shut off which shuts the engine off when you come to complete stop in traffic or light. You can shut if off by pressing a button by the transmission controls but you have to do that every time you start the car. I forget to do this sometimes and car shuts off at light - completely unnecessary for the minimal positive affect on gas mileage in my opinion. In short, it is a solid car that I use primarily for work. It is dependable and provides very good gas mileage but a bit boring to drive. In hindsight, I wish I test drove a 2013 or 2014 Lexus GS 350 AWD on a purchase basis. I have a feeling that I would have liked the transmission more and would have been happy to give up a mile or two per gallon for a smother shifting tranny. Two more years to go on lease so plenty of time to research next vehicle!

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  Shifty - 2015 Acura RLX
  By Joseph Alves - October 9 - 5:27 pm

  Quality of interior is mediocre. ^-cylinder shifting is annoyingly rough wifes 12 year old Subaru smoother.

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  235,000 miles - 2009 Acura MDX
  By Shandu - August 23 - 12:10 pm

  There is a common electrical issue. From the first 3000 miles there was a short in the radio meaning, when it get hot the sound would skip like a turn table skipping. The XM radio, CD player, AM/FM and DVD player sound would skip. Took it to several dealership from Long Island, Manhattan, and Westchester Acura. No one could find the reason, each saying to return the car at the time that the sound is skipping. Replace the first battery within one year. Twice the battery was dead within six months. Second time, dealer replace under warranty. Third time, the discharge of the battery even though the vehicle was off cause my a/c compressor to blow. The dealer said that the unit was drawing power even though it was off. The pressure build to the point where it cause the unit to blow. Dealer replace the battery and the A/C relay. Also the constant drain on the battery which maybe linked to the HLF/blue tooth system. I had to disconnect the HLF/blue took system. Gas mileage is very weak. Average about 15 miles per gallon on high way, due to heavy foot. Keep in mind I travel at least 160 miles per day. Yes, gas prices are high but I love my MDX. It corners like a dream at 65-70 mph on a curvy two lane country road. I am 61" and sit very well In my captain seat. The second row is hard to move forward for rear entry into the third row. Michelin Tires are the best so far in terms of gas saving and road noise. Have changed the following, tire road, oil plan, a/c relay switch, 3 battery on my fourth. Wanted to be the owner who reaches over 500,000 miles but it will be expensive.

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  This Car Eats Oil - 2010 Acura MDX
  By BMart - August 18 - 11:28 am

  This engine is a oil eater. I got the car used form the dealer with a fresh oil change - at 4k miles later the check engine light comes on - I check the oil and it does not even register on the dip stick. I thought OK -it was not a Acura/Honda dealer I got it from (Mercedes) so they put the wrong oil in or something. I made sure it had synthetic the next time. Same thing happens. The other problem is Acura has set the maintenance interval to 7500 miles - way to long for this oil eater. I recommend 3k miles for sure and check the oil every 1k miles. The bummer is my old cars have oil that looks fine after 5k miles but this car just chews it up. I now make sure I have quarts of synthetic available, and I went and bought a funnel to add oil to this car every 1k miles. I have to treat it like a vintage automobile. Other than that it runs fine - it has a solid feel that reminds me of a BMW.

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  Garbage that Acura doesnt stand behind - 2007 Acura TL
  By Greg - August 11 - 1:41 pm

  Dashboard will explode with cracks and Acura will pretend like nothing is wrong. I dont care about anything else with this car besides the fact that Acura doesnt stand behind their products when there is a MASSIVE problem happening to LOTS OF THEIR CARS!. Toyota extended their dashboard warranty for 10 years because the dash gets sticky but Acura (supposed to be a luxury car..HA!) turns a blind eye! SAVE YOURSELF DO NOT BUY ACURA!

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  My first step up. - 2015 Acura MDX
  By Lee Nalley - August 8 - 1:47 pm

  I have had my MDX for 10 months now and have several problems that cannot be explained: The indicators for blind side vehicles will go off when no one is by them the gas cap light will go off when nothing is wrong the front breaking light will go off when there is nothing in front of me and the windshield wipers will go off when it is nice and bright and sunny. Im told at the service area that they cant find anything wrong and cannot pinpoint the problem, but will keep checking the their update sheets and if anything comes across, they will let me know. This is a safety issue as far as Im concerned as the breaking light comes on, my reaction is put the breaks on. Also, have a problem with the windows being down at high speeds, the tailgate wants to try to pop open, you can see gaps appear along the sides. Again the service agent cannot find anything wrong. I have the heated seats and it feels as if they were never turned off, making it a little uncomfortable during the summer months. The interior is comfortable, but with a lot of road noise handling is good and acceleration is really good. I am sorry that I spent what I did for this car.

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  Many many issues and trips to dealership - 2014 Acura MDX
  By Allan De - August 3 - 11:42 am

  The voice control does not work Fit and finish is not up to par Door out of alignment Steering needed update Shim kit for squeaking noise in engine needed Infotainment system is the worst ever - you are locked out of basic functions while driving Nav system is a joke

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  Its on the inside what matter - 2015 Acura MDX
  By Tanner - July 31 - 11:46 pm

  The 2015 Acura MDX is not a "flashy" car to the normal eye but certainly does hold its own against other luxury SUV. Handling is very light but easy to get used to. The interior is where the MDX shines, materials are very nice inside and easily accessible however having the tech package you certainly must be good with todays technology because at certain points it can feel overwhelming. Road quality if very nice as well, having owned the Audi Q7 it is very comparable. However only having 15,000 miles I cannot touch base on reliability quite yet.